Gainesville Area Receives Funding, Housing Vouchers to Help Homeless Veterans

Published July 15th, 2009

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday the distribution of more than 10,000 vouchers to local public housing authorities across the country to provide permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans.

Support services and programs in the Gainesville area received 210 vouchers and more than $1,410,000 in funding to help support homeless veterans, according to the HUD Web site.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the $75 million in funding last month with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.

"These vouchers offer veterans a permanent home and critically needed supportive services to those who have served our nation," Donovan said.

HUD's Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) will provide local public housing agencies with 10,290 rental assistance vouchers specifically targeted to assist homeless veterans in their area, according to the HUD news release.

Public housing authorities that administer HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV) work closely with Veteran Affairs Medical Centers to manage the program.

HUD allocates the housing vouchers to local public housing agencies across the country that are specifically targeted to homeless veterans based on a variety of factors, including the number of reported homeless veterans and the proximity of a local VA Medical Center with the capacity to provide case management.